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Book J- 



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1-4-57 

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CT 



'o^C 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

No apology seems necessary for the introduction of the 
present subject, although its incidents have been often told, 
into the pages of the Quarterly. AVhen so painful a calam- 
ity, as the death of the Chief Magistrate of the Union, has 
fallen upon the land, and under circumstances so sad, it is 
proper that the press of the country, without exception, 
should give expression to its appreciation of intellectual and 
LL^^oktttRSl moral worth, and its participation in the deep and spontane- 

ous outburst of sorrow, occasioned by an event which has 
clothed the nation in mourning and filled the civilized world 
with grief. The Rebellion, unparalled in atrocity, culminated 
in the death of the honored and revered President of the 
United States, the friend of his country and the benefactor 
of his race, stricken down while in the conscientious discharge 
of his public duties, in the highest civil trust imposed upon 
him by the people, with armor on, in the full maturity of his 
powers. Neither the office with which he was invested, nor 
the estimable character which he possessed, could shield him 
from the assaults of death, the relentless, murderous attack 
of the assassin. It is difficult to realize, that one so pure, 
so kind, so noble and so useful has terminated his career, 
yet his work was evidently accomplished, his mission on 
earth, fulfilled. But never in the history of the world, has 
an act been perpetrated which so moved the people, sent such 
a pang into the nation's heart. No death ever produced a 
sensation so profound, and so general. As the dreadful 
tidings flashed over the telegraphic wires, and vibrated 
through the length and breadth of the land, never was the 
country more convulsed, the national emotion more intense. 




Ahraham Lincoln. ^OS* 

It brought sorrow to the hearts of more than twenty millions 
of freemen. It was a day of the deepest gloom. Business 
is suspended, trade pauses, public buildings and private 
dwellings are closed, the streets darkened ; flags are flying at 
half-mast, and funeral emblems arc everywhere displayed. 
Anguish and terror are depicted in every countenance, 
strong men clasp one another's hands in silence, or bury 
their heads and weep. Men of all political parties and 
shades of opinions, representatives of all religious creeds, 
Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant, all classes, the 
lowliest as well as the highest, every cottage, hamlet and city 
mourn with an unafl'ected and sacred grief. The calm, sub- 
dued, solemn feeling, the sadness in the manner and voice, 
never before witnessed, proclaim that a prince and a great 
man has fallen in Israel. No tribute could be more pathetic, 
or more suggestive of his character, of the love which he in- 
spired, and the influence he exerted. 

"Miiltis ille bonis Jiehilis occidit.'^ 

It is right and proper to manifest our grief under the severe and 
afliictive bereavement, to gather around the tomb and to unite 
in the sad obsequies, to honor the memory and cherish the 
virtues of him who was so devoted to the cause of freedom 
and the progress of mankind, whose name and principles will 
endure as long as the republic continues and the world en- 
dures. 

Abraham Lincoln was born, February 12th, 1809, fifty-six 
years ago, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His ancestors were 
of English extraction, from the State of Pennsylvania, and 
members of the Society of Friends. When only seven years 
of age, he removed with his parents to Indiana, then an al- 
most uninhabited territory, where in his new homo he devo- 
ted the next ten years of his life to manual labor on the 
farm, in helping to clear away the heavy timber and in cul- 
tivating the soil. His character was formed and developed 
by associations with the pioneers of a western wilderness, 
with those who encountered the difficulties, strufrtrles and 
privations of settling a new country. The child of poverty 
and toil, the only school education which he ever received, 
was that which he enjoyed, at intervals, during this period, 
amounting in the aggregate, to less than a year. Deprived 
of the advantages of liberal culture, his leisure hours were 
devoted to the acquisition of knowledge and the improvement 
of his mental .facultiis. In Lis ciibiahouie, bv the hearth- 



406 AhraJiam Lincoln. * 

stone he would sit until long after midnight, diligently 
studying those elementary works which exercised so much 
influence in determining his future greatness. He read few 
books, but these he thoroughly mastered. iEsop's Fables, 
Weenis' Life of Washington, a Life of Henry Clay, and 
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress were his favorite authors. No 
misfortune of birth, no difficulties in life, could repress his 
eager desires in the pursuit of knowledge. Industry, energy 
and perseverance, a firm reliance and a steadfast faith, sup- 
plied the defects of an imperfect education in early life, and 
compensated for all the disadvantages Avhich environed his 
path, furnishing a practical illustration of the workings of 
our free institutions in opening the avenues of success from 
the most humble position in private life to the most exalted 
place of honor and trust. In 1830, he removed with his 
father to Illinois, where he assisted in the erection of a log 
cabin for the family, and in enclosing a rail fence around the 
grounds. In the following year he was employed as one of 
the hands in navigating a common flat-boat down the Missis- 
sippi river to New Orleans, and, on his return, occupied a 
position as clerk in a store and mill. But his labors in this 
capacity were abruptly terminated by the breaking out of the 
I>lack-Hawk war, in 1832, when he offered his services to 
repel the Indian invasion on the "Western borders of 
the State, and for three months, was captain of a volunteer 
company. On the conclusion of the war, he was selected as 
a candidate for the State Legislature, and, although he was 
defeated, as he expected, the opposite party being greatly in 
t])e ascendency, his own immediate district gave him two 
hundred and seventy-seven votes out of two hundred and 
eighty-four that were cast, a very decided proof of the high 
estimation in which he was held by his neighbors. He is 
now appointed Post-master, and having leisure for reading, 
commences the study of law, to which he devotes himself 
with the greatest assiduity. About this time, also, he per- 
formed the duties of County Surveyor, and became generally 
and favorably known for his good practical sense and ability 
in argumentative debate. In 1834 he was chosen a member 
of the legislature by the highest vote given for any candidate 
in the State, to which position he was re-elected for three 
additional terms, embracing a period of eight years. la 
l!;e meantime he had removed to the Capital of the State 
where he rapidly rose to eminence, and acquired a high ropu- 
l;ition in his profession. He was distinguished for his clear, 



Abraham Lincoln. 407 

vigorous and earnest presentation of the truth, and his great 
fairncHS and strict integrity as a lawyer. In 1846, at the 
age of 37 he was elected a representative to Congress, the 
duties of which he discharged with fidelity and usefulness, 
with a scrupulous devotion to the public interests, an inflexi- 
ble adherence to principle, and a generous, intelligent sym- 
pathy with all measures designed to promote the common 
good, among which may be mentioned his efforts to secure, on 
a Constitutional basis, in the District of Columbia, the aboli- 
tion of slavery, a system which he asserted was founded in 
injustice and bad policy. On the expiration of his Congres- 
sional term he retired to private life, and applied himself 
earnestly to the duties of his profession, till the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise again called him into the political field. 
He was immediately acknowledged as a prominent leader, 
and in 1858 unanimously nominated, as the candidate of his 
party for the United States Senate, in opposition to Judge 
Douglas, with whom he thorough]}' canvassed the State, the 
discussion being conducted on both sides with great ability 
and courtesy, and exciting the most profound interest 
throughout the Union. The result of this political contest 
was, that although Mr. Lincoln received a popular majority 
of four thousand votes, Mr. Douglas, by the joint ballot of 
the legislature, secured the appointment. 

In 18G0, at the Republican National Convention, assembled 
in Chicago, Mr. Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, 
■which nomination, the following November, was ratified by 
the people ; on the 4th of March, 1861, he was inducted into 
office, and at once entered upon the discharge of his arduous 
and responsible duties. After four years of faithful service, 
he was re-elected President of the United States by an almost 
unparalleled electoral majority, a most signal and emphatic 
approval of his administration by the people. lie had just 
been inaugurated for his second term, and the loyal country 
was rejoicing in the brilliant victories which were everywhere 
crowning our arms, and in the speedy and complete over- 
throw of the Piebellion, when he was smitten down, in a mo- 
ment, by the foul hand of a cowardly assassin, in a public 
assembly, in the city of Washington, April 14th 1865, a 
martyr to the cause of human liberty and constitutional 
government. But 

"They never fall who die 

In a great cause. Though years 

Vol. XVI, No. 63. 52 



408 Abraham Lincoln. ' 

Elapse and others share as dark a doom, 

Thej but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts 

Which overpower all others, and conduct 

The world, at last, to freedom/' 

With this brief outline of Mr. Lincoln's life we are natur- 
ally led to inquire what estimate is to be placed upon his ser- 
vices as President of the United States. No man in the 
history of the nation ever had greater responsibilities ini- 
posed upon him, no public man ever sustained them with 
greater ability and success. He assumed the duties of his 
office amid unprecedented difficulties and trials, when the 
whole country was in confusion and peril ; organized treason 
was defiant, States were in open rebellion, and the efforts of 
the Government seemed paralyzed. Fraud and corruption 
had entered the high place?, political profligacy was impair- 
ing public morals, our national principles were assailed ancJ 
the Constitution unscrupulously rejected. The foundations 
were shaking, authority was ignored, and the infection was 
spreading. A want of confidence in the stability of our free 
institutions began to prevail, and even good, patriotic men 
doubted whether we actually had a country or not. The 
Government vacillated, and the people were without hope. 
After four years of unremitting toil, the deepest anxiety and 
the most ardent devotion to the interests of the country, Mr. 
Lincoln lived to see the Hebellion crushed, its power of re- 
sistance completely broken, the conquered armies of the en- 
emy forced to surrender, forts and arsenals recovered, 
strong holds repossessed, city after city retaken, the Rebel 
Capital fall, peace restored, the Republic saved, the su- 
premacy of the National Government fully recognized, 
the honor of the country untarnished and triumphantly vin- 
dicated, the integrity and perpetuity of the LTnion on the 
principles of righteousness and the basis of universal human 
freedom fiimly insured. "The measure, by which Abraham 
Lincoln," says the historian of the United States, "takes his 
place, not in American history only, but in universal history, 
is his Proclnmation of January 1, 1803, emancipating all 
slaves within the insurgent States. It was, indeed, a military 
necessity, and it decided the result of the war." This great, 
auspicious act, on which the glory of his administration rests, 
and which will be prominent when all other events shall be 
forgotten, gave freedom to a race, and liberated four millions 
of enslaved immortal beings from the chains and degradation 



Alraham Lincoln. 409 

of human bondage. This is his lasting memorial. Emanci- 
pation, as a military necessity, became the settled policy of 
the Government; this measure, the legality and force of 
which men no longer questioned, he lived to see triumph over 
all opposition and prejudice, and the gigantic system of 
wrong, the result of more than two centuries, forever demol- 
ished. A stupendous work, unsurpassed in the grandeur of 
its character and the magnitude of its issues, was assigned 
him, but how successfully he accomplished it. Summoned to a 
lofty destiny, how gloriously he fulfilled it. An unerring 
Providence seems to have selected him for the emergency, for 
the arduous service which was to be done in these troublous 
times, to guide the Government in this contest for freedom. 

"Such men are rais'd to station and command, 
When Providence means mercj to the land. 
lie i^peaks and they appear; to him they owe 
Skill to direct and strength to strike the blow ; 
To manage with address, to seize with pow'r 
The crisis of a dark, decisive hour."' 

*'If ever man," says the British Standard, "was fitted for 
such an enterprise, it was he ; he was wanting in no gift or 
grace, despite his peasant-like plainness, required for the 
proper discharge of his duties. Even his alleged defects 
were special qualifications for it. The enemy he was re- 
quired to grapple with found him at all points prepared, and 
in every instance he was victor. lie never took a false step 
of the slightest moment in "his career. His prudence and 
moderation preserved him from falling when men of another 
mould and of a more shining exterior, might have been caught 
in the traps and snares of a subtle and vigilant adversary. 
Abraham Lincoln has found a renown that will last, unim- 
paired, through a hundred generations. This work was the 
greatest known to modern story, and it will form by far the 
most momentous chapter in the chronicles of the age." 

But what were Mr. Lincoln's peculiar qualifications for the 
work, his prominent characteristics, which so admirably fitted 
him for the service, silenced the calumnies of his enemies, 
attracted to him all hearts and secured the respect and ad- 
miration of the world ? He was certainly no ordinary man, 
and impartial history will give him a very high place among 
the great, the pure, and the good that have lived on tho 
earth. He possessed a combination of oxcellencies which are 
rarely united in a single individual. His greatness was not 



410 Ahraliam Lincoln. 

the result of chance. His physical training, his strong iro» 
frame, the toils of his childhood, the hardships of his youth 
rendered him capable of great endurance and unremitting 
toil, taught him lessons of self-reliance and prepared him for 
the trying scenes of his subsequent life. 

Mr. Lincoln was a man of superior intellectual endow- 
ments. He possessed greater strength of mind than many 
supposed, greater than even his friends conceded to him 
when he first assumed the reins of Government, abilities 
that were adequate to every occasion, that were admirably 
adapted to the work he accomplished. His judgment was 
unusually strong and well-balanced, his power of observation 
clear and accurate. His mind promptly received and dis- 
cerned the truth. His memory was tenacious, retentive and 
exact. He was distinguished for his shrewd, practical wis- 
dom, common sense, his sagacity, intuitive and almost infalli- 
ble, his quick perceptions, his ready exuberant wit, for his 
patience in investigation, and great caution, which enabled 
him carefully to mature the results of his observations. He 
had a logical turn of mind, and in the examination of any 
subject, in the exercise of induction, he followed with great 
power every link in the chain of thought. The various 
points which he seemed to illustrate in his argument were 
presented to another with remarkable clearness and precision, 
so as to leave upon the mind of the hearer a perfect photo- 
graph of what existed in his own mind. He had the faculty 
of rendering any subject, however complex, intelligible to 
the common understanding. This power of mental disci- 
pline was acquired by the careful study of Geometry, and 
by a determination in his youth to perceive the truth in all 
its bearings and relations. He tells us that, when yet a 
boy, in listening to a conversation he was often at a loss to 
know what people meant; if he retired to rest he could not 
sleep, till he endeavored to understand precisely the points 
intended to be conveyed and, when understood, to frame lan- 
guage suitable to communicate them more clearly and more 
de6nitcly to others. When he attempted to enforce what 
was perfectly established in his own mind, he often rose to a 
high degree of eloquence. He was a fluent and forcible 
writer. His utterances which contain so much truth and 
deep wisdom, always appropriate to the occasion, are distin- 
guished for their great simplicity and are uniformly drawn 
from experience and the actual relations of life rather than 
from abstract speculations and theories which could be turu- 



Ahraham Lincoln. 411 

ed to no practical account. His ofllcial papers, liis writings 
and his speeches are amonor the most remarkable productions 
in our national literature, direct, lucid, earnest and vigorous, 
evincing a comprehensive grasp of great principles and an 
extraordinary insight into the fitness of things. They will 
every where be read and long remembered. 

Mr. Lincoln, so remarkable in the powers of his mind, 
illustrious by his services and exalted by his public posi- 
tion, in tho sterling qualities of his heart made a deep im- 
pression upon all with whom he was brought in contact. 
They inspired regard, trust, admiration and love. No one 
surpassed him in kindness of disposition, in childlike tender- 
ness, in gentleness and moderation of spirit, in his self-sacri- 
fice, his thoughtful consideration for the rights and happi- 
ness of others. His mild eye, pleasant countenance and 
happy smile beaming over his care-furrowed brow indicated 
a heart full of love, of friendly emotions antl genial impul- 
ses, of pity and paternal yearnings. He could not have 
cherished a vindictive feeling, or meditated a cruel purpose, 
lie was free from all malice, virulence, ill-will, or revenge. 
He exercised no spirit of hate towards his most bitter enemy. 
During his political career he never wrote or uttered a re- 
proachful sentence. Assailed ever so unkindly, he never re- 
plied with words of harshness or reproach, but sull'ered pa- 
tiently and without complaint. So much was he under the 
iniiuence of this lovely spirit, 

"That neither evil tongues, 
Piiisii judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men"' 

could break his peace of mind or disturb his cheerful faith. 
Ko man with so much power ever exercised it so mercifully, 
or with so much charity. Political enemies who visited him 
were received as courteously and treated with as much jus- 
tice as his most intimate friends. It took little to warm his 
heart up into a glow of kindly feeling even towards those 
■who, he felt, had injured him. When the contest of last' fall 
resulted in his triumphant re-election, his first expressions 
were that he could not and would not exult over his country- 
men who had differed from him in political sentiment. "If 
I know my own heart," says this great, humble roan, "it 
gives me no pleasure to triumph over anybody ; it adds noth- 
ing to my enjoyment that any other man is disappointed by 
the result." In what kind, pathetic and importunate lan- 
guage does he, in his first Inaugural Address, appeal to those 



412 Abraham Lincoln. 

who had lifted their parricidal hands against the life of the 
nation. "You can have no conflict," says he, "without be- 
ing yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered 
in heaven to destroy the Government, while I have the most 
solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. We are not 
enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though 
passion may have strained, it must not break, our bond of 
affection. The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every 
battle-field and patriot-grave, to every living heart and 
hearth-stone all over the broad land, will yet swell the chorus 
of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by 
the better angels of our nature." So in his last Inaugural 
we find no vindictive expressions against the men who had 
filled the land with blood, and were still persistent in their 
efforts to destroy the Union. His last official words, so kind 
and yet so earnest and solemn, seem almost like inspired 
lanrruage, addressed to the whole country from another world. 
"Both read the same Bible," he says, "and pray to the same 
God ; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may 
seem strange that any men should dare ask a just God's as- 
sistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other 
men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. 
Tlie prayers of both should not be answered. That of neither 
has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purpo- 
ses. Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must 
needs be that offences come ; but woe to that man by whom 
the offence cometh. If we shall suppose that American 
slavery is one of these offences, which in the Providence of 
God must needs come, but which having continued through 
his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives 
to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to 
those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any 
departure from those divine attributes which the believers in 
a living God always ascribe to him ? Fondly do we hope, 
fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may 
speedily pass away. Yet if God wills, that it continue until 
ail the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty 
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop 
of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn 
with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still 
it must be said that the judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether. With malice towards none, with char- 
ity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see 
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are iu, to bind 



Abraham Lincoln. 41S 

up the nation's wound, to care for him who shall have borne 
the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which 
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our- 
selves and with all nations." 

Mr. Lincoln was a man of very humane feelings, of warm 
and earnest aifections. His heart seemed a great fountain 
of love. No one could, with greater propriety, have adopted 
the sentiment of Terence : 

Homo sum : huniani nihil a me alienum 2>uio. 

He possessed strong sensibilities, and knew how to rejoice 
with them that rejoice, and to weep with them that weep. 
This was the ruling passion of his life. He was the steady 
and uniform friend of humanity, his sympathies were with 
his fellow-men, the wide world over, and his hand was ever 
extended to furnish relief. He was interested in every effort 
designed to advance the welfare of society, to ameliorate the 
condition of the race. An interesting exemplification of this 
spirit, so characteristic of the man, is afforded in a little in- 
cident connected with a visit to the city of New York, in 18G0. 
Sabbath morning he started in search of the Sumlay School 
in the Five-Points House of Industry. "I noticed," says 
the superintendent, "a tall and remarkable-looking man enter 
the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed 
attention to our exercises, and his countenance manifested 
such genuine interest that I approached him, and suggested 
that he might be willing to say something to the children. 
He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and coming 
forward began a simple address which at once fascinated 
every little heurer, and hushed the room into silence. His 
language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with 
intcnsest feeling. The little faces around him would droop 
into sad conviction, as he uttered sentences of warning, and 
would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of 
promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, 
but the imperative shout of 'Go on !' 'Oh, do go on !' would 
compel him to resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and 
sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked his powerful head 
and determined features, now touched into softness by the 
impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity 
to learn something more about him, and when he was quietly 
leaving the room, I begged to know his name. He courte- 
ously replied, 'It is Ahriim Lincoln, from Illirioi'^.' " His 
condescension to all classL'S wuA (.•onililions of pursons, olfii;i;il 
and private, high and lo^^■, yjung and old, rich un'l pooi-, while 



k 



414 Ahraham Lincoln. 

nnd blaclc was wonderful. No one was ever denied access to 
iiira He listened kindly and patiently to the wounded soldier, 
the destitute widow and helpless orphan, to the young man, 
iu^t enterincr upon the conflicts of life, to all who sought hig 
presence for assistance and counsel. He was ever willing to 
hear and consider the cause of the poor, the humble, the sut- 
fering and the oppressed. His janitor, it is said, had from 
him a standing order, that, no matter how great a crowd 
thronged his door, if Senators or Representatives were cora- 
pellef to wait, or be turned away without an audience, he 
inust, before the day closed, admit every messenger who came 
with a petition for the rescuing of life from death. "Some ot 
our Generals," he once remarked, "complain that i impair 
discipline and subordination in the army by ray pardons and 
respites, but it makes me happy, if after a hard day s work 
I can find some good excuse for saving a man s life, i thinlc 
how iovous the signing of my name will make mm and his 
family and his friends." Not one of our brave soldiers fell 
in his country's service for whom President Lincoln would 
not have cheerfully died. His magnanimity was a very 
^.trikincT trait in his character. This was constantly seen in 
his geSerous, chivalrous, noble treatment of ^i^enem.cs 
He did not want to triumph over a fallen foe. The liberal 
terms which he authorized General Grant to proffer to the 
Rebel army of Virginia, are without a precedent in the his- 
tory of the world. And the very day on which he died, 
when he ascertained that two prominent leaders of the con- 
spiracy, in disguise, were trying to flee from the country, and 
it was proposed to arrest them, he directed the oflicers to let 
them escape. His kind, gentle, forgiving disposition prompt- 
ed him to love even the rebellious, who were plotting for his 
life How beautifully ho illustrated in his official conduct 
the sentiments, inculcated by our immortal Washington in 
his Valedictory Address : "It will be worthy of a free, en- 
li.rhtcned and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to 
iirmkind the magnanimous and too novel example of a P^-^op'e, 
..hvays rruidcd by an exalted justice and benevolence. /\\ ho 
can doubt that, in course of time and things, the fruits ol 
Buch a plan would widely repay any temporary advantages, 
which might be lost by a steady adherence to it i 

Yet with all his mildness and kindness of heart, his sin- 
gular charity, he was a man of great firmness. He never 
faltered in what he believed to be the path of duty; he 
could never be diverted from a course which he honestly sup- 



Abraham Lincoln. 415 

jwsed right; he was most tenacious in his adherance to prin- 
ciple and never hesitiited to stand up in its defence. He 
Vi-AS disposed to do right at all times and under all circum- 
stances, regardless of consequences ; unawed by the denunci- 
ations of his enemies, undismayed by the clamors of his 
friends, he followed the suggestions of conscience, the dic- 
tates of an honest heart. On his journey to Washington, in 
1861, in a speech, delivered at the raising of a Flag in Pliil- 
adelpliia he said, "It was something in the Declaration of 
Independence giving liberty not only to the people of this 
country, but hope to the world, for all coming time. It 
was that which gave promise that, in due time, the weights 
should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all 
should have an equal chance. Now, ray friends, can the 
country be saved upon that basis? If it can, 1 will consider 
myself one of the happiest men in the world, if I can help 
to save it. But if the country cannot be saved without giv- 
ing up that principle, I was about to say, that I would 
rather be assassinated upon the spot than to surrender it. 
I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if 
it be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by." Again in 
his message to Congress, in 186-1:, referring to a declaration 
previously made, he says : "I retract nothing, heretofore said, 
as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, and 
while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to 
retract, or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall 
I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of 
that Proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress. If 
the people should by whatever mode or means make it my 
executive duty to enslave such persons, another, and not I, 
must be their instrument to perform it." After liaving at- 
tached his name to the immortal Proclamation of January 
1, 1863, he remarked to some personal friends : ''The signa- 
ture looks a little tremulous, but my resolution was firm. I 
told them in Soptetnber, if tlicy <lid not return to their alle- 
giance, I would strike at the pillar of their strength. And 
now the promise shall be kept, and not one word of it, will 
I ever recall." In the famous contest with his great politi- 
cal rival, in 1858, when he enunciated those startling words 
of prophecy, which have since becom.e history, he fearlessly 
presented his honest convictions. He says: "A house di- 
vided against itself cannot stand, I believe this Government 
cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free. I do 
Vol. XVI. No. G3. 53 



416 Ahraliam Lincoln. 

not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect %he 
house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. 
It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the 
opponents of slavery will arrest the farther spread of it, and 
place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that 
it is in course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will 
push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the 
States, old as well as new, North as well as South." Al- 
though these sentiments were at the time unpopular, yet his 
calm reply invariably was : "Such is my clear convictioii 
and I cannot change it." Although he intimated no desire 
to see the result, which he predicted, accomplished and claim- 
ed no jurisdiction over the States in which the institution of 
slavery existed and, when elected to the Presidency, executed 
the Fugitive Slave Law because his oath of office, as the Execu- 
tive, in his judgment required it, yet he never wavered ia 
the discharge of duty. When urgeil at the beginning of hi« 
administration to strike at slavery under the war power, he 
replied : "My paramount object is to save the Union, and 
I would save it in the shortest way. If I could save the 
Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it. If I could 
save it, by freeing all the slaves I would do it ; and if I could 
do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also 
do that. But I intend no modification of my oft-expressed 
personal wish that all men every where ought to be free." 
And only when in his honest opinion, the time came, and 
the alternative of Slavery or the Union was presented, did 
he resolve to strike at the root of the evil. He never evaded 
personal responsibility. He always maintained his own in- 
dividuality. He listened with deference to the opinions of 
others, but he was independent and fearless. Nullius ad- 
dictui jurare in verba magistri. He was no mere partisan. 
Truth and justice and tl>e good of his country were para- 
mount objects in his estimation, never to be surrendered. "If 
I do my duly," he says to the people, "and do right, you 
will sustain me : will you not?" Although he was as hum- 
ble and unpretending as a child and ever ready to retract a 
measure, when convinced that he was wrong, yet he was as 
determined and fixed in his purpose, as 

"The rock in the ocean, tranquil amid raging billows," 

if he felt sure that his opinions were deliberately and intelli- 
gently formeil, that the course of actioUj marked out fur him- 
self, >Yas riirht. 



Ahraham Lincoln. 417 

He was clistinf^uished for his fi-anknes3, and his loyalty to 
truth, his sacred and inviolable regard for justice. His char- 
acter was transparent, his heart, sincere and always open 
to the light. He deceived no man. There was no unworthy 
conccahncnt of his opinions, no approach to double dealing, 
no capacity for intrigue, no serpentine policy or subterranean 
process, which he could pursue for reaching his ends. He 
never sought to influence men's passions, and to carry by 
sinister means any selfish designs. He hated from his in- 
most soul hypocrisy and falsehood. His heart was a stran- 
ger to every sordid feeling. Said one, who was on the most 
intimate terms with him, and who, for four years, occupied 
the same room : "A purer man than Mr. Lincoln I never 
knew. He could not have perpetrated a mean act. His 
t)\vn consciousness of guilt was sufficient to deter him from 
the commission of any deed, unworthy his manhood." The 
idea wiiich seemed deeply impressed upon his mind was '•''Nil 
conscire .sibi, nulla palU'Sccre culpa.'" He was a man of 
stern principle, of unswerving integrity, of great honesty of 
purpose, an honesty which defied all attempts to corrupt or 
overthrow it, which rendered him superior to the fear of re- 
proach, opposition or contempt, and maintained its empire in 
every transaction of life, lie possessed a most engaging 
simplicity, removed from every thing like ostentation, which 
no one could fail to notice, and which won the esteem and 
hearts of all men. He was a man of unblemished character, 
unsullied by a single stain. He may have had his failings, 
but they were so few and so unimportant, that they are over- 
shadowed by his great and noble attributes. In the midst 
of political excitement when every act is closely scrutinized 
and every defect greatly magnified, he challenged the re- 
spect and admiration of his opponents who admitted the purity 
of his life, the kindness of his he^rt, 'the sincerity of his 
intentions and the devotion of his whole nature to the con- 
scientious convictions of patriotic duty, however much they 
may have diff'cred in opinion from him as to the wisdom of many 
of his views of national policy. He was unfaltering in his love 
for his country, in his attachment to the principles of civil 
liberty. It was pure and lofty, superior to all personal consid- 
erations, removed from all unhallowed ambition. "Whether in 
honor, or reproach, in triumph or defeat, his great heart never 
throbbed with one pulsation save for her welfare. During 
his official career he showed a devotion to duty, to the Lnion 
and'the Constitution, which no hostility could abate, no par- 



418 AhraJiam Lincoln. 

tisan aspersions shake. Alexander never more intensely 
desired to see the world at his feet, tiuin he desired to see 
his native land, great and good as well as free. The na- 
tion's trials and perils filled him with the deepest anxiety, the 
most tender solicitude. "You arc wearing yourself out with 
hard work," said one who observed his haggard, care-worn 
expression ; "I cannot work less," he said in reply, "but it 
is not that, work never troubles me. Things look badly I 
cannot avoid anxiety." 

His influence over the people was remarkable. He exer- 
cised a tulismanic power over them, as no man had, since the 
days of Washington. They had faith in his integrity and 
honor and uprightness. He attracted them to him by his 
kindred sympathies and affections ; he could always rely for 
support upon the people. He had grown up among them, 
had shared their labors, experienced their trials, encountered 
their difficulties, was identified with their interests. His 
language was the language of the people. He was a type 
of the American people, a representative of the strength and 
peculiarities of our American institutions. Whenever he 
spoke, the people heard him gladly, and so unbounded was 
their confidence in his wisdom, purity, prudence and patriot- 
ism, that they felt the administration of the Government was 
safe in his hands. Even when the winds were high and the 
waves dashing over the deck, and the rocks were under the 
lee, they could rest secure, and believe 

Nil despcraiulum, Tciicro duce et auspice Tcucro. 

But the crowning excellence of Mr. Lincoln's character 
was his deep religious feeling. Taught by a pious mother to 
read and revere the word of God, he had continued the prac- 
tice throuirh life. He loved it for its "ireat truths and its 
profound teachings. The early lessons he learned from the 
lips of maternal love he never forgot. He had a strong and 
abiding confidence in an ever-wise and overruling Providence, 
a sacred regard for the precepts of Christianity, an unshaken 
trust in God and in the ultimate triumph of truth and right- 
eousness in the world. These principles sustained and 
strengthened him in his trials, and inspired him with hope in 
the darkest hour of our country's history. He firmly be- 
lieved in Christ, as the Saviour of sinners, and most cordially 
recognized the power of prayer and his personal (k'pendence 
for wisdom and strength upon a higher than human «pawer. 
"\Yhcu ho left his quiet home at Springfield, in IbGl, to as- 



Ahralunn Lhuohi. 419 

Bume the office to which ho had been called by the suflVnges 
of his fellow citizens, he ackiiowledgo.l his dependence on 
God and sought his help; in his parting words, so touch- 
in;^ and impressive, addressed to his neighbors, he said : "A 
duty devolves upf)n me, which is perhaps greater than that 
which has devolved upon any other man, since the days of 
AVashington. lie never could have succeeded, except for 
the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he, at all times, 
relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine 
aid which sustained him ; and in the same Almighty Being I 
place my reliance for support; and I hope you, my friends, 
will all pray that I may receive tiiat J)ivine assistance, with- 
out which I cannot succeed, but with which success is cer- 
tain." In the progress of his journey he again utters similar 
language: "For the ability to perform tny work 1 trust in 
that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this favored land. 
AVithout that assistance I should surely fail. With it I can- 
not fail." Ills oliicial papers and public addresses are re- 
markable for their religious tone, his simple trust in God, and 
humble reliance upon Divine ai<l, without an}' of the cold 
formality, or the cant of aJBectation which usually marks 
such documents, but accompanied with a warmth and earnest- 
ness which produce the impression that his heart had been 
touched by God's love, that he was under the influence of 
Christian principle, of renewing and sanctifying grace. lie 
feared God and daily implored the blessing of heaven on the 
country he was striving so faithfully to serve. He says: "I 
shall be most happy, indeed, if I shall be a humble instru- 
ment, in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his chosen 
people, for perpetuating the object of this great struggle," 
"Let us diligently," he adds, "apply the means, never doubt- 
ing that a just God, in his own good time, will give us the 
rightful result." Again he declares : "My hope of success 
in this great and terrible struggle rests on that immutable 
foundation, the justice and goodness of God. And when 
events are very threatening and prospects very dark, I still 
hope, in some way, which man cannot see, all will be well in 
the end, because our cause is just, and God is on our side." 
He further remarks : "I know the Lord is always on the side 
of right. God is my witness, that it is my constant anxiety 
and prayer, that both myself and this nation should be on 
the Lord's side." Li response to an address which had been 
made by an ecclesiastical body, he said: "Gentlemen, if God 
Lo with us, wc shall maintaiu this Govcrnuicut, if not, we 



420 Abraham Lincoln. 

shall fail," and this was uttereil with the deepest solemnity 
anil peculiarity of manner so as to produce the conviction 
that he felt that God was with the nation and would brinji it 
through all its trials. His Proclamation of Emancipation he 
concludes with an invocation of a most impressive character; 
"And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, 
Warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I in- 
voke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious 
favor of Almighty God." To a friend who asked him on a 
certain occasion if he loved the Saviour his reply was : 
'•When I was first inaugurated I did not love him ; but when 
I stood upon the battle-field of Gettysburg, and looked upon 
the graves of our dead heroes, who had falleii in defence of 
their country, I gave my heart to Christ, and I can now say 
that I do love my Saviour." To a friend with whom he was 
conversing on the nature of a true religious experience, he 
said: "I think, I can say with sincerity, that I hope I nm a 
Christian. I had lived," he continued, "until my boy Willie 
died, without fully realizing these things. That blow over- 
whelmed me. It showed me my weakness, as I had never 
felt it before. I think I can safely say, that I know some- 
thing of the change of which you speak, and I will further 
add that it has been my intention for some time, at a suitable 
opportunity, to make a public religious profession." In a 
letter written last September, he thus speaks: "I am much 
indebted to the good Christian people of the country for 
their constant prayers and consolations. The purposes of 
the Almighty are perfect and must prevail, though we erring 
mortals may fail to perceive them in advance. We hoped 
for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this, 
but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We still ac- 
knowledge his wisdom and our own errors therein. Mean- 
while, we must work earnestly in the best light he gives us, 
trusting that so working conduces still to the great ends he 
ordains. Surely he intends some great good to follow this 
mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mor- 
tal stay." We gratefully remember, too, that only a few 
weeks before his death, the last official interview the Chris- 
tian Commission had with him, in the East Room of the Ex- 
ecutive Mansion, was, with his most cordial approval, closed 
with prayer to God, in whose hands he then said he felt him- 
self to be but an instrument to execute plans, whose full 
purport aud results he did not understand. 

Although President Lincoln was not a professor of reli- 



Abraham Lincoln, 421 

gion, which we very much regret, yet we have reason to be- 
lieve that he waa a sincere Christian ; that he sought and 
found that faith which unites the heart in living relations to 
the Saviour ; and that now, in the land of reality, his robes 
washed in the blood of the Lamb, he rests in the bosom of 
bis God. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
earth. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 

In this solemn and afflictive Providence we should devout- 
ly recognize the hand of God, and improve its mournful 
lessons, its impressive teachings. However mysterious the 
dispensation which awakens human expectation and concen- 
trates human attachment in some revered personage, and 
then throws over him the veil of death and hides him from 
us, to the Christian there is abundant consohition in tlie 
thought that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, that his 
government is universal, his providence extends to the most 
minute events of life, that nothing transpires without his 
permission, that not even a sparrow falls to the ground with- 
out his notice. "The Lord's throne is in the heavens and 
his kingdom ruleth over all." It was the cruel hand of the 
assassin that smote our wise and noble President, and fille(i 
the land with mourning, yet the murderous purpose could 
have been executed only by a permissive Providence. God, 
if he had seen fit, could have averted the stroke, the hand 
that wielded the fatal weapon could have been paralyzed and 
rendered harmless. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." A voice 
Cometh out of "the cloud that wraps the present hour," say- 
ing : "Be still, and know that I am God." "What I do, 
thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter." We 
cannot always penetrate the gloom and understand the mys- 
tery, but 

"God is his own interpreter, 
And he will miiko it plain." 

"Every dark cloud has its silver lining." God will bring light 
out of darkness, order out of confusion, good out of apparent 
evil, and this dark tragedy, like all other occurrences in hu- 
man history, will result in the promotion of his glory and 
the extension of his kingdom. "Surely the wrath of man 
shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath thou shalt re- 
strain." We must acknowledge in this inscrutable event the 
baud of Him who never errs, who worketb all things in heaveu 



422 Alraliam Lincoln. 

and on eartli, after his own perfect counsels, whose actions 
are controlled by infinite wisdom and boundless love, who 
(loeth all things well. We most cordially acquiesce in his 
will, and in humble submission exclaim, "Even so Father : 
for so it seemed good in thy sight." 

We, also, learn that although our Chief Magistrate is dead, 
the nation still lives. Mr. Lincoln's work was accomplished, 
or he would not have been removed. "The workman dies, 
but the work goes on." The same benignant Being, who 
raised up such a man in the crisis of our history, can raise 
up other leaders for us. The God of our fathers, who has 
been with us in the past, and conducted us in safety through 
the darkest periods, will, if we are faithful and seek his 
guidance, still be our protector and guide. Our free institu- 
tions have been vindicated, as they never were before. Re- 
publican liberty, based upon Christianity, cannot be destroy- 
ed, or falter in its course. The best, the most irresistible 
proof has been furnished of the strength and permanence of 
our Government. The inquiry, a year ago, was propouTided 
whether an election for the Presidency could be conducted, 
whilst the nation was engaged in the prosecution of the war, 
but in the army and at home, and with Generals in the field 
who mifrht have been considered tiie rivals of the President, 
and during a state of high political excitement, everything 
passed off as quietly as in a time of peace. With the result 
there is not a word of dissent, either among our citizens or 
soldiers. There is a universal acquiescence in the expressed 
will of the people. And within two or three hours of the 
President's removal from the scenes of his duties, another 
President is inaugurated, another leader under Constitutional 
forms occupies the Executive chair, and the machinery moves 
on as if nothing had happened. The Government changes 
liMnds without a jar, without tiie least interruption in public 
afiairs ; not a voice murmured, not a note in insurrection is 
heard, 

"SoJ occvlmit, nox nulla secuta esty 

The history of the world does not afford another such exam- 
ple. What patriot can contemplate these facts and yet 
despair of the Kepublic? Who can review the occurrences 
ot the last two months and not have his confidence in the 
stability and perpetuity of our free institutions strengthened ? 
There is no doubt we shall come forth from our trials, from 
the terrible ordeal through which we have passed, a purer, 



Ahraham Lincoln. 423 

stronger and a better people than we were before the war, 
prepared to occupy a still loftier position among the nations 
of the earth. A question has been settled, a moral and po- 
litical problem wrought out, the solution of which affected 
the whole earth, in which all mankind were concerned, not 
(;uly this republic, but the republics of the world. It was a 
contest for human freedom. The result will influence ages 
vet to come. The nations of the earth have learned, that a 
rejjublic may endure under the most trying circumstances, 
that man is capable of self-government, of living under laws 
of his own creation. If we had failed, the experiment would, 
perhaps, have never been renewed, the hopes of the civilized 
world would have [)erished, and daikness have brooded, for 
ages, over the whole human race. Then indeed would have 
been realized 

''The bloodiest picture in the book of time-"' 

The death of Mr. Lincoln is an impressive rebuke to the 
violence of party spirit, a solemn admonition to the fierce- 
ness of political warfare. The voice of party is hushed in 
th(! presence of such a national calamity. All political 
differences are forgotten, the rancor of mad excitement is 
laid aside, all malice is silenced, all hearts are softened in 
the general grief over the fallen object of common venera- 
tion. As the intelligence spread over the country, political de- 
signations were droppeil, party allegiance was disowned, sec- 
tional feeling buried, all narrow jealousies were silent, and 
anxious patriots of all localities and names vied with one 
another, in doing honor to the memory of our noble chief. 
"Along the line of more than fifteen hundred miles his re- 
mains were borne," says George Bancroft, "as it were, 
through continued lines of the people ; and the number of 
the n)ourners, and the sincerity and unanimity of grief, were 
such as never before attended the obsequies of a human be- 
ing; so that the terrible catastrophe of his end hardly struck 
more awe than the majestic sorrow of the people." What a 
change has been effected in public sentiment, in the tone of 
the public journals. He who was so much misunderstood 
and maligned, to whom angry invective and the vilest epithets 
■were applied, is now gratefully regarded, his private worth 
appreciated, his public services acknowledged. Parties, 
lately arrayed in bitter hostility against each other, now 
meet and mingle their tears around the grave of the dead. 
Vol. XVI. No. 63. 54 



424 Abraham Lincoln. 

Death alone could have produced such a result. "Oh the 
grave; the grave ! It buries every error, covers every de- 
fect, extinguishes every rcsentruent. From this peaceful 
bosorn spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. 
Who can look down upon the grave of an oneuiy, and not 
feel a compunctious throb, that ever he should have warred 
with the poor handful of earth that is mouldering before 
him ?" How it silences the voice of detraction and calumny. 
It changes faults to foibles and errors to infirmities, removes 
the thousand supposed stains from the character, brings out 
in bright relief the virtues of the departed, and teaches us to 
exhibit that love which "suffereth long and is kind, is not 
easily provoked, and thinketh no evil," which "beareth all 
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
things," and which we never regret we exercised, when either 
friend or foe is committed to the silent tomb. The lesson 
should not be without its salutary influence upon the Ameri- 
can people. It should awaken a spirit of forbearance, to 
sacrifice partisan animosity, political dissensions and sectional 
divisions, upon the altar of our common country, and, with 
hearts purified and in singleness of purpose, labor to advance 
our country's welfare. 

It is our duty to see that the last vestige of the great curse 
which caused the rebellion and occasioned such fearful car- 
nage, the destruction of so much life and treasure, and ended 
in the assassination of the President, be entirely and thor- 
oughly exterminated. Perhaps just such a tragedy was re- 
quired, such an imperishable lesson necessary, to touch our 
inmost feelings, to convince the nation fully of the cruel na- 
ture of treason, sustained by the debased spirit of slavery, 
Avhich was not satisfied with the injuries it could inflict by the 
ordinary modes of civilized warfare, but showed its real char- 
acter in the various atrocities comuiitted during the war, in 
the heartless treatment of our prisoners, in the brutal mas- 
sacre of our colored troops, in plotting arson, in attempting 
to diffuse malignant disease, in commissioning its secret emis 
saries to burn and pillage our large towns and cities, m 
striking at every thing that opposed its progress and perpe- 
tuity, and crowned its wicked career in the perpetration 
of a crime unknown in our history. We must now admit, 
even if we did not before, that there is a barbarism in sla- 
very, recognized as the corner-stone of the broken Con- 
federacy ; and when it arrayed itself against constituted 
authority, and waged war to save its life, its barbarism 






V 



Abraham Lincoln. 42^ 

increased manifold. Its dark and fiendish spirit, when bafiied 
jn its criminal purposes, was not satisfied until the representa- 
tive of the whole people was its victim, until it avenged itself 
by aiming a blow at the nation's heart, in an attack on our 
dearest rights and liberties. It is a duty, then, we owe to 
the memory of the illustrious dead, that this evil be utterly 
eradicated, that the letter and spirit of the Emancipatif«a 
Proclamation, be fully acknowledged and faithfully execu- 
ted; that domestic slavery be forever obliterated from Ameri- 
can soil, that the great principles which underlie our Govern- 
ment be vigilantly guarded, that hereafter all, who live 
beneath the folds of the American flag, be protected in their 
inalienable rights and treated as freemen, and every human 
being occupy the position assigned him by his Creator. 

Although President Lincoln's work on earth is done, and 
he has gone to his rest, the truths which he enunciated, and 
the principles which he illustrated in his life, and sealed with 
his blood, survive. Potest videri etiam hcatua ; incolumi 
dignitate, jlorentc fama, salvis adfinitatibiis et amicitiis, fu- 
iura effui/isse. lie lived to see the realization of his faith, 
the consummation of his hopes, the accomplishment of his 
•wishes, right triumph over wrong, justice over injustice, pa- 
triotism over treason, our national banner rescued from dis- 
honor, and our national name, from extinction. He died, 
mourned and regretted, amid the tears and unutterable grief 
of more than twenty millions of his fellow citizens, whose 
hearts were crushed as they never before had been by the 
death of a single individual. He rests from his labors, hut 
his works do follow him. l^ivit enim vivetque semper ; at- 
que etiam latins in memoria homimon et sernione versabitnr 
'postquam ab ocnlis recessit.' He needs no monumental pile, 
or mausoleum splendor to perpetuate his memory. Si qnwris 
vionnmcntum, cireumspice. His marvellous career, his 
many virtues, his faithful services, his peerless influence, 
which no clouds can dim, no shadows obscure, will abide for- 
■'ver, enshrined in the aff'ections of his countrymen, and 
secure the homage, the most profound regard of all who 
think; his name will be gratefully remembered in the 
archives of the country and on the pages of history, not only 
as the apostle, but the martyr of liberty ; his great and pa- 
triotic deeds, his words of sage instruction, the common in- 
heritance of mankind, in the light of advancinoj civilization 
and Christian charity, will shine with increasing lustre ; his 
fame, unimpaired, will grow brighter in the progress of ages, 



and will exorcise a power for good down to the end of 
time; even in distant iatuls, across the ocean where other 
cares engross and other names are cherished, the name 
of Abraham Lincoln will excite strange emotions of joy, en- 
thusiasm and veneration, the gratitude of all good men, and 
will be pronounced with affection by every one in whose 
breast there shall arise an aspiration for human rights and 
human liberty; nations yet unborn, will rise up and call him 
blessed. Quidquid ex eo amavimus, quidquid niirati 
£iiTnus, manet mansurumque est in animis Iwminum, in 
ietevnitate temporum. fama rerum. 



